Critic Reviews

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100

1UP

In short, Pushmo is a nearly perfect puzzle game: Its rules are simple to grasp (though the game insists on holding your hand regardless), it's playable by anyone, it doesn't pull its intellectual punches, and it's cute as a button to boot. Its limited design -- though "focused" would also be a fair assessment -- might make it the sort of game you wait to go on sale if it were sold in a box, but as a $7 download it seems perfect. It's a lovingly crafted piece of work, incredibly addictive, and boasts almost 200 puzzles as well as potentially limitless extensibility through shared content. There's really nothing to dislike about Pushmo (at least not once you're through the pokey tutorial stages) and plenty to love. It's one of the 3DS's most outstanding offerings to date -- not because it pushes the hardware in any way, but because it embodies the polish and craftsmanship that elevates the best Nintendo games from "good" to "great."

This is precisely the sort of game I’ll bust out every time I find myself on a long flight: it’s addictive, challenging without even a whiff of frustration, and packed to the brim with content. I honestly have no complaints about Pushmo, and fully believe that unless you are deeply offended by baby-rescuing sumo wrestlers or block puzzles somehow killed your firstborn, you should download it immediately.

Pushmo is without question one of the best 3DS games we've played. It's great to see Nintendo step outside its comfort zone of critically acclaimed franchises and do something original that's both immensely entertaining and a neat showpiece for the hardware. Don't resist the urge. Download this gem immediately.

Pushmo is an ingenious puzzler that will consume the free time of anyone who gives it a whirl. I found myself putting in hours at a time because of its addictive nature. If you own a 3DS, do yourself a favor and go download Pushmo.

As you climb up and down those oft-saccharine, never-malevolent stages in Pushmo, it’s easy to wonder why it never burns out. Maybe it’s that the puzzles are never diabolical to the point of total disgust. Maybe it’s the perseverance of Mallo, whose arm-flailing jumps never get old. Or maybe it’s just because climbing up Yoshi or Super Mario reminds you too much of why you play video games, of why you play games like Pushmo– and knowing this, you can’t just stop playing. You’ve got memories to rebuild.

In many ways, Pullblox is Nintendo's answer to Portal. Both are budget puzzlers released to little fanfare that exhibit the finest qualities of their respective developers. Sliding blocks around may not have the kinetic energy of Mario or the exploratory nature of Zelda, but it maintains the playfulness and intricate craftsmanship that's made other Nintendo series so revered. With news circulating that Shigeru Miyamoto would like to focus on small ideas, one need only look towards Pullblox as a shining example of what the Kyoto-based company can do in the modest-priced digital market.

In the early days of the 3DS, all we’ve had available in the way of downloadable three-dimensional software were ugly 8-bit remakes and that dumb-looking golf game. With Pushmo, not only do 3DS owners have a solid game that shows off the system’s visual capabilities, but we’ve also got a truly fantastic title that’s really at its best on this particular console. I can’t imagine Pushmo being quite as successful in terms of melding form and function on any other system, and the ways in which it succeeds on the 3DS are huge. And with such a low price tag, I can’t imagine any legitimate reason for you not to download this title short of simply never being around a Wi-Fi signal somehow. Do yourself a favor and buy this game.

Up to this point, there haven't really been any breakout 3DS download titles; of course, the 3D Classics games are nice, but they're not completely original. Pullblox, deceptively simple as it may seem, features great gameplay, a lengthy main game, a simple to use level creation and sharing tool and, best of all, comes at quite a low price. It's far and away one of the best downloads available at the moment and a recommended purchase for anybody.

Still, despite its potential flaws, Pushmo is a budget-priced download that people would gladly have paid a lot of money to play in previous years. There are plenty of puzzles to keep you busy for hours, and it’s even possible to create your own puzzles and share them with friends. Even as a DS title, the game might well have retailed for $20 and most consumers probably wouldn’t have made a fuss. If you’ve been looking for something special to download from the DSI online store, start with Pushmo.

Pushmo is a game that you’d expect to find on store shelves, as the amount of content and features is above what you’d expect to be found on the 3DS eShop. With a ton of puzzles, a creation studio, and some very addictive gameplay, Pushmo has a lot going for it. The only thing that could have made this puzzle game any better is the addition of sharing puzzles online, and not just by using a QR Code. In the end the $6.99 price tag is pretty much a steal as this game is a definite buy for most gamers out there.

Although the push/pull mechanic of Pushmo is powerful enough to seep into your daydreams (see: the Tetris effect), I didn't find it to be sustainable across a game of this length. Don't go in expecting a deep experience, but do go in -- this is still a must download. Pushmo is not remarkable enough to justify a 3DS purchase on its own, but it is certainly another in a growing group to chip away at apathetic feelings toward the system.

You do have to progress some in the main game before you can try everything that's out there (you'll solve dozens of puzzles before you can create or even acquire levels with switches or manholes), but that's a small price to pay when the game is so much fun to play. Pushmo offers a wealth of content and smart game design that is often missing from full retail releases, so the fact that it can be downloaded for $6.99 is impressive. It's a carefree, addictive puzzler with great player creation tools that enable you to keep happily pushing and pulling blocks for as long as you please.

The 3D effect is lightly handled but proves nearly fundamental, making Pullblox’s primitive landscapes feel tangible. Meanwhile, a separate creation mode enables you to chisel out your own stages and share them as QR codes. Intelligent Systems hasn’t crafted the most obvious type of system seller, then, but it has displayed signs of the kind of thinking that’s helped define Nintendo’s previous portables. Economical and clever, Pullblox is full of leftfield ideas that turn odd congregations of technology into quiet magic. At last, 3DS has a puzzle game with real depth.